Rooting Note8 SM-N950U with Nougat 7.1.1

[bhood]

Specs:
T-Mobile-locked Samsung Galaxy Note 8 - N950U
Baseband version: N950USQU1AQI5
Build number: NMF26X.N950USQU1AQI5
Android version: 7.1.1
Samsung Experience version: 8.5
Knox version: 2.9

I recently purchased the above Note8. I have bookmarked a root method[1], but it requires bootloader v7. If I'm decoding my phone's baseband version correctly, its on v1, so probably won't work with this method.

I'm wondering, if I let it do an OTA update to Oreo (Android v8), will it hit the requisite v7 bootloader so I can, according to the instructions on that page, flash it back to a pre-rooted Nougat? ( If there's a better method than what I'm planning to follow, please advise. I'm all ears! )

[1] www (dot) the custom droid (dot) com/root-galaxy-note-8-snapdragon-n950u/

 

[butchieboy]

Just stay on firmware you are on and use the old Samfail root method

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

 

[bhood]

Thanks, butchieboy. Would this be the process for this phone?

https://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-note-8/development/root-samfail-galaxy-note8-t3685340

 

[butchieboy]

Yes [emoji106] The thread is closed but you should still be able to get the files you need. If not I still have them and when I find time I could send them to you with Mega...but you still should be able to get them from the thread.

Sent from my SM-N975U using Tapatalk

 

[bhood]

The links are still good in that post, but I'm a bit concerned about them. The SamFAIL downloads for the v1 bootloader are designated for N950F ("for the Samsung Galaxy Note 8(SM-N950F)"), which is the European firmware. Mine's N950U (US).

Does this SamFAIL root actually rely on the European firmware? How does that impact the Snapdragon? I thought the European phones/firmwares were designed for a different processor.

 

[bhood]

No dice

I followed the instructions on that post to the letter. The first flash didn't cause my phone to reboot (as the instructions say it will), so I rebooted it myself and got it back to the "Emergency" screen, whereupon I did the part #2 flash. It reset that time, and now it's stuck in an "Installing update" loop with the Android icon (with a "warning" icon above it) just appearing over and over.

What do I do now? Do I have to try and flash a stock ROM and see if I can recover the phone? Or is there something I can do from here that will help it continue?

 

[butchieboy]

Boot to recovery and factory reset

Sent from my SM-N975U using Tapatalk

 

[bhood]

And the angels sang!

Since I couldn't get the damn thing to shut off anyway, I left the phone in the "Installing" loop overnight (since that was the least risk of screen burn). This morning, the device was dead because the battery had drained to zero, so I put it on the charger. I left it there for only about 30 minutes so it had just enough juice for me to try and get it into recovery mode.

I must not have held the buttons correctly, because it went into a normal boot instead of going into Download or Recovery. I let it go, intending to just try again once it entered the "Installing" loop, and LO! the "SAMSUNG" logo came up. It hadn't done that before. I put the phone aside and didn't touch anything while the logo pulsated, and it eventaully dropped into the setup screen! :victory: Of course, it almost immediately shut down because the battery hadn't charged enough, but I think it somehow reset/corrected itself when it lost all power overnight.

I left it on the charger and monitored the level. It stopped increasing at 80%, which is the expected behavior with this solution. I powered it on again, and everything is as described in the rooting post (except that SuperSU did not prompt me multiple times to update it).

So, at this point, I'd say I'm good. Looks like it reset itself, and the root succeeded. Hopefully anybody coming along later with this same issue on the Note 8 will see this post.

Thanks again, butchieboy.